This invention concerns a solar heating device and more particularly a solar liquid heating device as for providing a hot water supply for home plumbing systems or other similar applications.
The major barrier to the utilization of solar energy to provide a portion of the nation's energy requirements has been the capital expense of the necessary equipment. Since most solar heating structures require extensive and elaborate equipment, the cost of which offsets entirely or to a major degree the savings realized by reduced expenditures for purchased energy, i.e., oil, gas or electricity. This is particularly so in the installations adapted for residential properties, in which the cost of equipment must be kept very low in order to provide a reasonable payoff on the investment for the solar heating equipment.
Widespread application of solar heating has been found in providing a water supply for residences, business or industrial applications, but even such devices have typically included solar heating devices in which water is circulated through solar panels installed on the residence roof to a separate remote storage tank. The relatively long lines required to convey the heated water to a storage tank and the widely spaced location of the point of hot water storage has involved relatively extensive installation labor and considerable expense for these components.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a combined solar liquid heating device and storage facility such as to provide a self-contained unit which may be manufactured and installed at relatively low cost.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide relatively high efficiency for the heating of water or other liquids such as to enable the solar heating and storage functions to be combined in a single installation.